


The show can go on... if you believe

by eggfish



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Journalism, Post-Graduation, bad timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:29:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22199398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eggfish/pseuds/eggfish
Summary: The people who are still under the spell of Hibiki Wataru, three years after his disappearance--Even with a woolen hat masking his light hair, Mashiro Tomoya is easy to pick out on the street. Despite - or perhaps because of - his solid, commonplace looks and friendly attitude, he's rather striking. You can imagine how he found success as an idol.But I’m here to talk to him about his life on the other side of the idol-fan relationship today, one which is more than a little out of the ordinary. Mashiro is just one of the surprising number of people who still believe that movie star Hibiki Wataru faked his own death three years ago.
Relationships: Hibiki Wataru & Mashiro Tomoya
Comments: 8
Kudos: 22





	The show can go on... if you believe

**Author's Note:**

> Cw: discussion of death and suicide
> 
> Tagged with major character death because if Eichi were alive this would not be the same fic at all sorry Eichi I love you really
> 
> Credit to the fic [Lenses](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16784788) for being very cool and partially inspiring me to write this, although it turned out very different.
> 
> And thank you to Seira for betaing!!

Even with a woolen hat masking his light hair, Mashiro Tomoya is easy to pick out on the street. Despite - or perhaps because of - his solid, commonplace looks and friendly attitude, he's rather striking. You can imagine how he found success as an idol. 

But I’m here to talk to him about his life on the other side of the idol-fan relationship today, one which is more than a little out of the ordinary. Mashiro is just one of the surprising number of people who still believe that movie star Hibiki Wataru faked his own death three years ago.

\--

The actor, illusionist and former idol was last seen alive on September 29th, 2022, at the cast party for a production of the musical _Elisabeth._ He retired early from the gathering, speaking to no one about his plans, and took off from the rooftop of his home in his notorious hot air balloon at 11pm. By the next morning, the whereabouts of he and his balloon were unknown. 8 days later, a fuel tank suspected to be from his balloon was found washed up in Kamisu, Ibaraki Prefecture. He was just 24 years old.

Hibiki’s balloon was fitted with propellers, giving him a limited amount of control over its direction, though its path would still have been mainly determined by wind and weather fronts. The conditions that night were suitable for a balloon flight when he took off, but worsened over the next few hours, and the darkness would have made it difficult to navigate. He was spotted flying east between 11pm and 1am, travelling over 15km in that time, but it is unknown why he would choose to do so or where he headed afterwards.

However, Hibiki was known for odd publicity stunts, and had already faked his death for a day in 2020 in order to garner media attention for a film. While the police eventually concluded he was blown out to sea due to an equipment malfunction, many suspected that he had purposefully gone into hiding and would reappear again this time too. Three years on, however, and we haven't seen a sign of him.

Yet even as the case faded into obscurity, it began to amass something of a cult following. The most well-known advocate among them is leading idol Hidaka Hokuto, who recently posted a short video on Instagram promoting WheresHW.com, a fansite which claims the disappearance was not an accident. And there are many others, who include fans of his singing, of his acting, of his eccentric public persona, and especially of his magic - Hibiki was something of an innovator in that field and is believed to have invented several tricks of his own, the workings of which remain a topic of speculation. _The Greatest Disappearing Act Of All,_ reads the title of one blog post on the subject. 

His motivations are a popular topic of discussion. Some speculate at a troubled private life or a scandal he was desperate to cover up. Others seem to believe that his disappearance was a challenge to the world to come and find him, and that clues might be hidden anywhere across the globe, forming a treasure hunt with one of the world's most famous magicians as its prize.

This view has been fostered most strongly of all by Mashiro Tomoya, who seems to be the unofficial leader of the search. He runs WheresHW.com, which also compiles Hibiki's last confirmed sightings and other details on the case. The site receives almost 3000 hits a month.

Despite the conspiracy-theory nature of the search, Mashiro is lent some legitimacy by the fact he's a fellow alumnus of Hibiki’s own Yumenosaki Academy, a school with close ties to the entertainment industry. The two even performed together in some of the student productions that Hibiki directed during his time there. “He was… let’s just say ‘unbelievable’,” Mashiro remembers. “We used to joke that he wouldn’t die even if you killed him. These days it’s not so funny.”

Despite his dedication to the topic, when I ask him about the evidence he’s collected on the mystery he laughs self-deprecatingly and admits he knows no more than anyone else. While he attempted to investigate the case himself at the time, he was unable to uncover anything new. In the three years since, people have written in or sent photos claiming to have seen Hibiki or his balloon, though never anything conclusive.

Fans are also eager to pin unexplained phenomena on his practical jokery, especially if it happens at one of his old haunts. Yumenosaki itself is a common source of such reports. "The new generations of the theatre club there all support us,” Mashiro says. Hibiki was president of the club in 2014 and 2015. ”I think they might have gotten the wrong idea, though. Apparently he’s one of the ‘seven mysteries’ of the school now.” His smile widens when he talks of Yumenosaki. 

“There are a lot of different people counting on me these days, especially since Rhythm Link has gotten so big," he says, referring to the idol agency he works for, "so I haven’t been as dedicated to investigating as I planned to be. Not even as dedicated as people seem to think I am. I have to work my hardest just to keep up. But it’s possible, that’s the main thing."

He answers my next question before I can even ask it. "I can’t give up.” He’s utterly serious now. “I can’t, because he’s waiting for me… Or maybe he’s not. But see if I care. I’ll find him anyway.” 

\--

But is finding him even a possibility? What _is_ the truth behind Hibiki Wataru’s disappearance? Did a man with such a wildly successful career have any cause to vanish of his own free will?

Perhaps the person best suited to answer that question would be Tenshouin Eichi, heir to the immensely wealthy Tenshouin conglomerate and well known to be his closest friend. Regrettably, Tenshouin passed away in 2021 after succumbing to a lifelong respiratory condition. There is no doubt that his death had a heavy impact on Hibiki, and shortly afterward he announced his official retirement as an idol in order to focus fully on his career in theatre. 

Hasumi Keito, another alumnus of Yumenosaki who also worked with both men as adults, conceded to a video interview on the matter. He dismissed the suggestion that the two deaths might be connected. "Eichi planned out his death long in advance," he said. "Whatever happened to Hibiki was not part of that plan."

So what would be a better explanation? “I have no idea,” he said. “I’m sure you’re aware by now that Hibiki was even more difficult to predict in private than he was in the public eye.”

Enigmatic, confusing, brilliant, beyond comprehension - that is how the tabloids, his fans, and even some of the people close to him describe Hibiki. Hasumi chooses _difficult._ He doesn’t seem the type to believe in magic. But when I ask him the crucial question: _do you think he’s really dead?_ he doesn't want to break the spell either. “It's certainly difficult to imagine. I would prefer not to think so,” is all he will say. 

Hibiki‘s parents have asked not to be contacted by the media, though at the time of the disappearance it was reported that they hadn't noticed any unexplained changes in his behaviour. Beyond them, he kept a tightly guarded personal life and had few close friends; a remarkable number of those were celebrities or other people of note, none of whom answered my queries on him. Sakuma Rei's agent likely deflected my e-mail before it ever reached him, while fashion industry darling Itsuki Shu took the time to reject me more personally, warning me not to 'cheapen [Hibiki's] name' with my reporting. 

I did manage to secure an interview with his last agent, Takahashi Haruto, who worked with him for two years. Takahashi was more skeptical. “I got the impression he was devoted to his craft in the truest sense,“ he said of Hibiki. “He never took a job just because it was convenient or good for his career; it was always about what would challenge him as a performer. 

I feel it's disrespectful to that drive of his, to claim that he would give it all up willingly. Fans these days get over-invested. They don't know when to let go."

\--

When I reached out to Sakasaki Natsume, the fortune-teller extraordinaire and former idol who collaborated with Hibiki on several occasions, for comment, his rejection email had this message tagged onto the end: 

_It is precisely because you cannot come face to face with the truth that your imagination extends infinitely. It is in the heart that supreme beauty lies._

This sentiment was so appropriate to the nature of my investigation that it took me a few weeks to register the fact that Sakasaki appends exactly the same message to all of his official emails.

Faced with a lack of solid facts, it’s all too easy for the imagination to run wild. The more I talk to the people who knew Hibiki, the more tempted I am to join them in their belief that he’s alive. He could even be nearby, disguised as one of the strangers I pass on the street every day - perhaps he would want to keep an eye on me while I did the research for this article, in case I came too close to uncovering something important. It’s an exciting idea to entertain, even if it makes me just another over-invested fan. 

But if Hibiki went into hiding of his own accord, surely that makes it even less likely that we will ever uncover the truth. How can anyone hope to find a master performer intent on hiding themselves?

When I pose the question to Mashiro, he’s unfazed. "I believe I can find him because I’ve done it once already,” he says. “Back when we were teens. I'd never even thought to look before, but once I did, I saw right through his disguise. So… you know, if anyone can find him again now, it should be me. Or something." He grins. 

Then the grin turns rueful. "When I think about him… that's the only time I ever feel special." 

I can't help but think he's wrong. The mental fortitude and willpower it must require to keep believing in Hibiki, even after three years of nothing but dead ends, mark him as something special in his own right.   
  


**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry for how I treated *checks notes* every single character in this fic... especially Tomoya who never deserves what I put him through.  
> Natsume's chuuni email signature is from [his first substory](https://ensemble-stars.fandom.com/wiki/Natsume_Sakasaki/Sub_Story/Part_1).  
> I imagine Tomoya's website being vaguely like [this one](http://www.irene-amelia.com/index.html) (which is about the theory that Amelia Earhart assumed the identity of another woman after her disappearance) but with more modern web design lol.  
> This fic was a bit of a shot in the dark for me so I am very interested to hear any feedback or thoughts you have after reading!  
> And as ever, I'm @goldgust on Twitter if you want to hmu, though I'm not very active in Enstars fandom at the moment.


End file.
